PUK Prepares for First Party Convention without Talabani

[Aslan]

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two parties governing Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region, will next week convene its first party meeting since Jalal Talabani – it’s leader and Iraq’s president – suffered a stroke in December.

Farid Asassard, a senior leader, told Rudaw that high-ranking officials had insisted on the meeting, in order to discuss major internal issues that could no longer be delayed by the absence of the 79-year-old Talabani, who is still recuperating at a hospital in Germany.

“This is going to be a decisive year,” said Asassard. “We are going to discuss the next elections, the constitution and the Kurdistan Region’s presidency.”

“Kurdistan’s relations with Baghdad and local elections will be the major topics of discussion,” he added.

These are all thorny issues, for a party whose charter decrees that the political bureau should meet every two months. But the PUK has been staggering for leadership since Talabani, who remained popular but did not delegate power, went absent.

The regional legislative and presidential elections are set for September, although no date has been officially announced; the issue of the presidency swirls with controversy, over the great likelihood – and opposition objections – that President Massoud Barzani will find a way around constitutional limitations to run for a third four-year term; Erbil-Baghdad relations remain taut, despite an agreement recently signed to deflate explosive tensions; last but not least, the PUK is unsure if the Iraqi presidency will be offered to one of its candidates after Talabani.

These complex issues are further complicated by the party charter, which stipulates that only the secretary general has overriding power to make decisions if the votes are split.

“We have some problems inside the PUK that could have been easily solved had Talabani been here,” admitted Asassard. “We cannot deny that his absence may make it difficult to resolve some of our issues,” he added.

Asassard said that Talabani’s absence is felt on every issue, even in relations with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the KDP’s ruling partner, which is led by Barzani.

Senior PUK leaders and members of the political bureau have found themselves in the midst of serious disagreements over Kurdistan’s constitution, which is to be referred to parliament for a final vote, as well as the PUK’s stance on a third term for Barzani.

“Members of the leadership council are likely to bombard the political bureau with criticism for their lack of a clear policy,” said a senior PUK leader on condition of anonymity.

“The political bureau has been running the party quite badly over the past few months,” he admitted. “They don’t have a unanimous voice, either.”